Etihad’s frequent flyer program has overhauled its award charts. We now know what the new award charts look like, and there’s both good and bad news.
While some award flights on partner airlines have increased in cost by as much as 124%, other redemption costs have actually decreased by up to 54%.
These changes to Etihad’s award charts were initially foreshadowed last month, but Etihad Guest did not previously reveal what the new award charts would look like.
The new Etihad Guest award charts come into effect from 9 March 2023. Meanwhile, Etihad is currently in the process of completing a huge system upgrade and won’t be able to take any new bookings until this is completed on around 10 March.
Many “sweet spots” are now dead
Fortunately, the changes aren’t quite as bad as they could have been. And with a single award chart that now applies to redemptions on all partner airlines, the Etihad Guest program certainly has become a lot simpler.
It will also soon be possible to redeem Etihad Guest miles for Virgin Australia and American Airlines flights on Etihad’s website, which is a welcome improvement. This previously required a phone call. Etihad Guest members will still need to call, though, to redeem miles on other partner airlines.
The bad news is that most of the excellent “sweet spots” in Etihad Guest’s old award charts have been eliminated with this change. For example, mid-length Virgin Australia domestic flights like Sydney-Cairns used to be excellent value at just 6,900 Etihad Guest miles in Economy, or 13,800 miles for Business Class. This flight now costs 15,000 miles for Economy or 30,000 miles for Business.
Most redemptions on Air Serbia, American Airlines, Oman Air, Royal Air Maroc and Brussels Airlines also now require significantly more Etihad Guest miles.
The new Etihad Airways award chart
Previously, Etihad didn’t really have fixed-price award zones for GuestSeat redemptions on the airline’s own flights. Now, as per the Etihad Guest website, awards will be priced according to the below award chart:
It is not exactly clear what Etihad Guest means by “a premium redemption fare will be applied based on demand and availability”.
Etihad will continue to make all seats on its own flights available to book as OpenSeat awards. These are (sometimes much) more expensive than GuestSeat awards, but are much more widely available.
The new Etihad Guest award chart for partner airline redemptions
Rather than a unique award chart for every individual partner airline, Etihad Guest now just has a single award chart that covers all partners. This is basically the same as the previous award chart that applied to redemptions on EL AL, one of Etihad’s newest partner airlines.
Here’s the new chart:
You can use Great Circle Mapper to calculate the distance of any route.
Some examples of old vs new Etihad Guest award pricing
While some award flights have actually become cheaper, Etihad has unfortunately adjusted many redemptions in an “upwards” direction…
Here are some examples of Etihad Guest redemption costs (excluding taxes & charges) before and after the March 2023 award chart changes:
| Airline | Route | Cabin Class | Previous Miles Required | New Miles Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada | Vancouver-Calgary | Economy | 5,000 | 6,000 (+20%) |
| Air Canada | Brisbane-Vancouver | Business | 170,000 | 140,000 (-21%) |
| Air Europa | Madrid-Panama City | Economy | 48,000 | 67,000 (+40%) |
| Air New Zealand | Auckland-Christchurch | Economy | 13,000 | 6,000 (-54%) |
| Air New Zealand | Sydney-Queenstown | Economy | 13,000 | 15,000 (+15%) |
| Air New Zealand | Auckland-Tokyo | Business | 210,000 | 120,000 (-43%) |
| All Nippon Airways | Sydney-Tokyo | Business | 54,000 | 100,000 (+85%) |
| Air Serbia | Belgrade-London | Business | 14,834 | 30,000 (+102%) |
| Air Serbia | Belgrade-New York | Business | 64,082 | 100,000 (+56%) |
| American Airlines | Sydney-Los Angeles | Business | 62,500 | 140,000 (+124%) |
| Asiana | Sydney-Seoul | Economy | 35,000 | 67,000 (+91%) |
| Brussels Airlines | Brussels-Copenhagen | Business | 9,000 | 10,000 (+11%) |
| Brussels Airlines | Brussels-New York | Business | 44,000 | 80,000 (+82%) |
| Garuda Indonesia | Melbourne-Denpasar | Business | 42,000 | 60,000 (+43%) |
| Gulf Air | Singapore-Bahrain | Business | 94,000 | 80,000 (-15%) |
| Hainan Airlines | Sanya-Shenzhen | Economy | 3,500 | 6,000 (+71%) |
| Korean Air | Brisbane-Seoul | Business | 75,000 | 100,000 (+33%) |
| Malaysia Airlines | Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok | Business | 14,000 | 20,000 (+43%) |
| Malaysia Airlines | Perth-Kuala Lumpur | Business | 40,000 | 60,000 (+50%) |
| Oman Air | Muscat-Doha | Economy | 3,000 | 6,000 (+100%) |
| Oman Air | Muscat-Kuala Lumpur | First | 72,000 | 107,000 (+49%) |
| Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca-Montreal | Business | 44,000 | 80,000 (+82%) |
| SriLankan Airlines | Colombo-Kuala Lumpur | Business | 22,000 | 40,000 (+82%) |
| Virgin Australia | Sydney-Melbourne | Business | 13,800 | 10,000 (-27%) |
| Virgin Australia | Sydney-Queenstown | Economy | 6,900 | 15,000 (+117%) |
| Virgin Australia | Melbourne-Perth | Business | 21,800 | 45,000 (+106%) |
| Virgin Australia | Brisbane-Denpasar | Business | 33,800 | 60,000 (+78%) |
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